As some of you may know, in about two weeks I?ll be starting my last semester of undergrad. Allegedly, in December I?ll be getting some form of degree in English after approximately 40 years of pop quizzes, presentations, and final exams. All of the laughter and tears?mostly tears?have led up to this finale. It?s like American Idol where I?m Paula Abdul and it?s just starting to register that I won?t be returning next season. I?ll walk across that stage, get a rolled-up sheet of paper that won?t really be my degree, but instead will contain a question that if I don?t answer correctly will have me labeled as the weakest link. I?ll phone a friend for help, and then because I don?t have any friends, I?ll have to settle for whoever answers when I call 411 for assistance. Of course, they won?t know the answer to what color yellow and blue makes either and I?ll be relegated to being an assistant bagger at a Dollar Store for the rest of my life..<\/p>\n
Of course, I?m being just a tad bit dramatic. But the reality is, because it can?t be completed within a few weeks, finishing school has always been a long-term goal. I never thought my degree would be just around the corner and a few blocks up. It seemed like school would always be a part of my life like taxes and Big Macs. For me, getting a degree was like this unattainable urban myth like receiving a check from Publishers Clearing House. I mean, I?m a veteran at this school thing. People who started school after me have already graduated, set up fraudulent internet businesses, and retired to Columbia where they are safe from any legal actions. <\/p>\n
For the last seven years I?ve watched other people raise their hands when professors asked who?s graduating this semester. It was never me. In fact, a few of my teachers stated they thought I?d already crossed that threshold. Now, I can neither confirm nor deny that I?ve walked across the stage during a commencement just for pretend. However, I can say that I will give Michael Hartley his degree when I actually get one that has my name on it instead of his. (Michael, I?m sorry for any confusion my accepting your degree in your absence may have caused, but your cap and gown was a perfect fit.) Even worse, I?ve seen the look on people?s faces when they ask me how school is going and I tell them that I still have 3 or so years left before I complete the two-month degree program from a partially accredited university. Actually, I think my graduating has less to do with any effort on my part, and more to do with the fact that those individuals probably petitioned Congress to pass a bill where I?d have to graduate or else.<\/p>\n
Seriously, I?ve been putting a lot of thought into my next move. I mean, what now? Do I go straight into Grad school? Since I?m not independently wealthy and would have to go further in debt for more education, is Grad school worth it? And if I do end up applying for Grad school, do I continue my writing path, or do I do something that?s more translatable into the work world like an MBA or something of that sort? In my opinion, an MBA would be helpful in case the writing thing doesn?t pan out. However, others feel that my pursuing an MBA, which isn?t my true passion, would just make me put off my writing pursuits just that much longer. In the words of Janet Jackson:<\/p>\n
Soap opera says,
\nYou?ve got one life to live,
\nWho?s right?
\nWho?s wrong?<\/p>\n
I?ll give you a minute or two to stop dancing. Go ahead. I?m patient. After all, I?ve waited 7 years for my degree, I guess I can wait for you to finish doing all those 80?s dance moves. Actually, I?ll take a moment to do the robot myself. Go Michael! Go Michael! It?s your birthday!<\/p>\n
It?s times like these that I wish I could call the Psychic Friends Network and have them use their expertise and infinite wisdom to help guide my steps and direct me as to what I should do. I had this conversation with an acquaintance the other day and he strongly advised me that if writing was my passion, I needed to put my all into it and not worry about having an MBA to fall back on. He said that I?d be successful if I just went for writing wholeheartedly and to look at Tyler Perry and Terry McMillan as examples. I explained to him that they are the exceptions and for every successful writer there are a million who struggle their whole lives and never get that big break. I could see me now with no home and selling copies of my book and funnel cakes from the trunk of my car. He considers me not to be forward thinking. I consider my view to be realistic.<\/p>\n
That being stated, I?d like to open up dialogue with my readers?ok, my reader?as to what you think I should do, whether you?ve been in a similar situation, and how it worked out in the end. What is your opinion of MBA programs and how they aide a person in being successful throughout their lives? Do you know of anyone who has an MBA? If so, what are they currently doing professionally and was the pursuit of an MBA their original goal or a fallback plan?<\/p>\n
People always ask me what I want to do with my life as far as writing is concerned. As an English major, if you don?t want to teach, people don?t believe that there?s anything else you can do to make a living. My goal is to prove them, and myself, wrong. This blog is just the beginning?hopefully. I?ve always wanted to be a columnist where I could write whatever I wanted. Think Carrie from Sex and the City except without the strappy sandals, expensive dresses, and due to a severe dating drought, without the sex. I want to write articles about me crying because some guy flipped me off on the interstate. I want to write about the cashier at the supermarket who yelled at me because I got $60 cash back from my debit card when the limit was $50?I don?t know how I would have known that, but apparently I should have and I?m a disappointment to the entire human race because I didn?t. I want to touch people. Make them smile. Make them think. My ultimate goal is to be a staff writer with a magazine, newspaper, or marketing department. In addition, I want to write novels, poetry, scripts, and other creative forms of media as well. In fact, you?ll be happy to know that I?m on page 215 of a novel I?m working on right now.<\/p>\n
Yes, these are my goals. I?m a writer who will graduate in December 2009 with hundreds of thousands of other graduates searching for work and competing with more experienced and possibly more educated individuals searching for jobs in the middle of a recession. On the surface, the prospects don?t look good. However, I?m a positive person and I?m going to hold my head high, walk across the stage, accept my diploma, and head straight to the unemployment office while I?ve got the momentum. Just kidding. But keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I prepare to embark on the next chapter of my life. Thus far, graduating from college will be one of my biggest accomplishments yet. In fact, I?ll be the first college graduate on my mother?s side of the family, and I?ll be one of a small few, if any, on my father?s side. That?s huge. The pressure is on, not just to be successful for myself, but to be an example to others so that maybe my nieces, nephews, and pets won?t have to work so hard or and can have someone to look up to. I?m blazing new trails. From now on, just call me Harriet Tubman.<\/p>\n
Access my full blog: www.justmichael.net\/blog
\nAccess my website: www.justmichael.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As some of you may know, in about two weeks I?ll be starting my last semester of undergrad. Allegedly, in December I?ll be getting some form of degree in English after approximately 40 years of pop quizzes, presentations, and final exams. All of the laughter and tears?mostly tears?have led up to this finale. It?s like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n